Survivors deliver Student Awareness Day message

When Holocaust survivors joined almost 250 teenagers at Hallandale High School's Student Awareness Day, the focus of the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center program was not just to teach students about the Shoah but also to combat prejudice and bullying.

It was the fifth year for the program at the predominantly African-American school in Hallandale Beach and one survivor sat with students at each table, telling them a personal story about living through the Holocaust and losing family members.

"We need to pass this on because we won't have these survivors forever," said Marilyn Santiago, a school administrator and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. "We can never forget it. This is a way to teach [students] that hatred comes in all colors."

The Holocaust Documentation and Education Center has been putting on Student Awareness Days since 1985, Center president Rositta Kenigsberg said.

At that time, South Florida had the third largest Holocaust survivor population and survivors wanted to share their stories, Kenigsberg said. The first Student Awareness Days were in Dade County, she said. "Students could really relate and listen. The impact was tremendous."

Soon Student Awareness Days were being done in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, she said.

Almost a decade later, the Florida legislature mandated Holocaust education for students from kindergarten through the senior year of college.

Louis Schneider, 80, of Miami, stood at the front of the Hallandale High School gym and told the students his story of surviving the Holocaust.

"Racism, bigotry, persecution. How do we get there? We start with small differences between people that escalate into bigger and bigger conflict," he said near the end of his presentation.

"I feel I've got to give back," Schneider said. "I am begging you to hate a little bit less. If we hate a little bit less, maybe we will have a better world."

Kenigsberg told the students that the anti-bullying pledge they would be asked to sign is about "stemming hate in our time." She added, "Let's try to recognize and appreciate our differences and our diversity. Let's break the silence and not be silent. Silence and indifference led to the Holocaust."

She asked the students to be "advocates of human dignity and to stop bullying." Kenigsberg said, "It starts with each and every one of us."

Students and the survivor at each table held hands during a candle lighting ceremony.

Zelda Fuksman, of West Boca Raton, a survivor from Poland, told the students at her table to "help this future become better for each one of us."

She asked them to "not be bystanders but be 'upstanders' and to have respect for their parents and the elderly. "This is a blessing," Fuksman said.

Several students talked to the group about their thoughts and feelings.

Arthur Taylor, 17, a senior from Pembroke Park who also attended last year's Student Awareness Day at the school, later said he came to this program "for the sheer respect for [the survivors]." He added, "Hearing these stories makes me appreciate my life a lot more."

Katusca Sanon, 15, a sophomore who lives in Miramar, said the survivors are "really, really strong." The lesson, Katusca said, is "to have more respect for everybody who has gone through a difficult time, [to] have a kind heart." She added, "I want to be part of that and help people."